All That Jazz: Squeeze in a Round of Golf to Complete Your Jazz Fest Experience

City Park - Bayou Oaks
City Park – Bayou Oaks

Add birdies to the beat at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Fest

By Tom Ferrell

With apologies to William Shakespeare:  Some people are born to New Orleans, some achieve New Orleans and some have New Orleans thrust upon them. Luckily, New Orleans was thrust upon me when I married a Crescent City girl. So, while I had known New Orleans for many fuzzy-memoried visits over the years, now I simply know New Orleans. And with the world-renowned New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Fest once again upon us (April 27 – May 6 at the New Orleans Fairgrounds) I wanted to share some local insight on visiting the most eccentric of all American cities–with golf clubs in town.

2nd Line Strut
2nd Line Strut

The first thing you should know is that New Orleans, not New York, is America’s true melting pot. Like the rich and varied gumbos that spice the city and fill the air with irresistible aromas, New Orleans blends an array of diverse cultural ingredients and simmers them up into a single, delectable whole.

Here you have your Cajuns, descendants of the ill-fated Acadians, driven from their adopted Canadian homeland and sent sailing down the Mississippi River some 260 years ago. Mix in the Creoles, who hearken back to pre-Colonial days and represent the intermingling of Eurpoean and African heritage. Then there are the Sicilians, the Irish, the Southerners and the African-Americans–all of whom are essential to this culinary, cultural, social and musical stew.

That rich heritage is the mythical Mardi Gras Big Chief of the Jazz Fest celebration. How important is music to New Orleans? Take a moment to ponder that as you land at LOUIS ARMSTRONG International Airport. Yes, what a wonderful world.

Irma Thomas (photography by Cheryl Gerber)
Irma Thomas (photography by Cheryl Gerber)

The register of the New Orleans musical community is bursting at the seams with Nevilles and Marsalises and Porters. Dr. John is in the right place. Irma Thomas, the “Soul Queen” of New Orleans. Anders Osborne. Harry Connick, Jr. You get my drift.

Anders Osborne (photography by Mr. Shults)
Anders Osborne (photography by Mr. Shults)

And those are just the headliners.

A walk around the fairgrounds at Jazz Fest will lead you through the Gospel Tent, where I danced and praised with a congregation spell-bound by the testifying of Dottie People and her Peoples Choir. Then squeeze into the pit in front of the Acura Stage, where this year’s top bills include Aerosmith, Aretha Franklin and Sting or any other number of modern heavyweights as they pay homage to the heritage of New Orleans.

Wander over to the Congo Square Stage, which features all New Orleans local musicians all the time. All that roaming and dancing is sure to make you hungry, and what better place to get hungry than Jazz Fest? Many of the top chefs and restaurants in the city are there to feed you. To top it off, liquid refreshment is never far away.

Once the sun sets, the French Quarter comes alive, and some of those same world-famous artists pop up in any of the hundreds of jazz and music clubs throughout the city. Nights in New Orleans usually turn into

Harry Connick Jr.
Harry Connick Jr.

stories you’ll be telling for a lifetime, but if you happen to get a few hours of sleep and want to get in a quick round before heading back to the Fairgrounds for the afternoon, you do have a couple of very good options.

Ben Crenshaw has called the innovative course at Audubon Park—located in the heart of historic Uptown—“the future of golf.” This isn’t a five-hour slog. You’ll complete all 18 holes in less than three and a half hours, because the little gem clocks in at just 4,189 yards and plays to a par of 62. Now before you serious golfers roll your bloodshot eyes at this suggestion, you should know that noted architect Denis Griffiths did not interpret “short” as “easy.”

Here your $40 green fee (cart included) will buy you onto a layout featuring 12 par-3s, four par-4s and two par-5s that weave through the lagoons and the live oaks. You’ll also get a healthy dose of people-watching—a two-mile paved walking/jogging track encircles the course. If you have a non-golfing spouse, have them meet

Audubon Golf Course
Audubon Golf Course

you after the round. The streetcar runs straight up St. Charles Avenue, and they can follow the track to the Audubon Clubhouse, which serves one of the best Sunday brunches in New Orleans. And just like that, you’ve had a great morning and are ready for an afternoon of getting down!

If you want a full-size portion of championship golf as part of your Jazz Fest experience, rise early and head for the spectacular new Rees Jones creation in City Park—Bayou Oaks. They’ve been playing golf in expansive and scenic City Park since 1901. Like much of the city, however, City Park suffered extensive damage from Hurricane Katrina. Now, where once there were three courses, there are just two—the North Course, which is preferred mainly by beginners and those seeking a low-cost round, and Bayou Oaks, which opened in April of 2017 to widespread acclaim.

Designing golf below sea level is a unique challenge, given that there is virtually no natural movement in the land. Jones, known as the “U.S. Open Doctor” for his renovation work on such courses as Bethpage Black and Torrey Pines, adroitly handled this challenge by integrating the majestic, moss-draped live oaks that dot the property into the strategic design of the course.

Jazz Fest 2nd Line
Jazz Fest 2nd Line

More than a few holes require real shot- making decisions to avoid or challenge trees that directly affect lines of play. The back nine show-cases beautiful views of the New Orleans skyline. The challenge of the day comes at the 450-yard par-4 14th, which requires a long drive to the right side of the fairway and then a long- to mid-iron past the outreached limbs of an oak tree and over a fronting pond. Make par here, and you’ve earned yourself another shot on Bourbon Street.

You can find additional golf if you’re willing to travel to the “West Bank” or head over to the casino-laden Mississippi Coast. But you came here for the music, right?  A little golf just makes the gumbo of Jazz Fest that much tastier.

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